I Write (Interface)

The first in a series discussing the method behind the madness.

I currently do most of my writing using LibreOffice on a Samsung netbook running Windows XP. I use Libreoffice because it's good. It also happens to be free. I only use Word at the very end for error checking and packaging, as I ready it for the copy editor.

I create one document per chapter. When I finish a chapter I leave a few blank lines and start writing the next chapter. Only creating the next chapter file when I'm a few paragraphs in, pasting the paragraphs across. This way I'm never staring at a blank page at the beginning of a chapter. As I write short chapters I generally end up with a folder full of chapter files - one hundred and ten for the last book, which got whittled down to ninety eight.


Throughout the writing process I use a Summary document. The Summary document breaks the whole story down into six chunks that I call Parts, with two Parts in each of the three acts that make the story. In the Summary a line will be listed per chapter in each Part, that includes the chapter file name and description of what happens. I use the sequence of chapters to get a sense for the whole story and pacing within each part. I move the chapters up and down to get the best pacing and sequence. This really helps when editing or reviewing the book and is where Libreoffice comes into it's own. Using the Summary as a guide I link all the individual chapters into a master document per Part, in the order listed in the Summary document. The master document works like you had written that Part of the book in one big file. This makes reviewing and editing, switching chapter order, very easy. You simply drag and drop the order of the chapters in the master document which updates immediately. Even exporting individual Parts to the kindle for further review, is easy from a master document.

The folders I store the individual chapters in are backed up using Dropbox. Dropbox is an excellent file sync technology. Designated folders and their contents stored on your PC are duplicated up to your account on the Dropbox servers. Everything is encrypted at every stage. The copy is done automatically the moment files are created or updated. Files stored there are held for multiple revisions, so if you accidentally delete a chapter then you can recover a previous version. You can install the Dropbox client to multiple machines and once more they're instantly updated with changes. If you lose your PC you install Dropbox to the replacement, login and the files will copy down.

When not writing on the netbook I have a netbook equivalent desktop PC in my study. It consumes very little power, is no bigger than a hardback book but is powerful enough to browse the web and write. It runs Mint (Linux) which is also free. Dropbox, Libreoffice and Google Chrome all run on Mint.

I use Google Chrome for all non-creative writing and research. I use Chrome because it's a fully featured work environment contained in a browser interface. If you log into it, it will sync all bookmarks, settings and Google apps across all instances of Chrome you log into. My Chrome environment follows me. This is invaluable as I work and write in more than one place, and on different machines. I use the Evernote app in Chrome to file and tag a LOT of research. Also the Hootsuite app for Twitter and Bit.ly for keeping tags on my URL's. I have a load of bookmarks that are the breadcrumbs that lead me back to different interesting points on the web. I use Google Drive (renamed from Google Docs) to track and analyse Kindle sales and import KDP sales reports from Amazon, to produce my own analysis. The wordprocessor and spreadsheet apps in Google Drive do everything I need these apps to do. All Google docs are encrypted and only stored on their servers, so I'm never checking I have the latest synced version. I keep the Acknowledgements section of my latest book in Google Drive, not on any PC, so any help given can be recorded where ever I find it. I write blog posts (inc. this) in Google Docs and paste them into my Blog later. While LibreOffice is the interface for my creative writing, Google Chrome is the interface for everything around this. Dropbox is peace of mind.

The next post is all about finding time.